Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reportedly asked Hizbullah to convince its ally Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun to head to the parliament to elect a new head of state or withdraw from the presidential race and choose a compromise candidate that would be acceptable to all sides.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Saturday, Hizbullah rejected al-Rahi's request and informed him that the party backs Aoun's candidacy until the end.

Sheikh Hamza Hommos has retracted his remarks that the Army Command was not informed of his visit to his captive son Wael, one of the servicemen who are being held by the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front in Arsal's outskirts.

The Sheikh revealed a list of terms for the families who are seeking to visit their sons, following a “goodwill” initiative by al-Nusra's leader in Qalamun Abou Malek al-Talli.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) for a period of three years from March 1, 2015, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1757, a statement on the U.N. chief's website said.

The mandate of the STL, which is based near The Hague in the Netherlands, is to hold trials for those accused of carrying out the bomb attack of February 14, 2005 in Beirut which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 other people.

Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are set to protect their rights under a trade union — the first such syndicate in the Arab world where more than 2.4 million foreign domestic workers labor under often harsh conditions.

The Labor Ministry said Monday they received a proposal from the National Federation of Labor Unions to form the syndicate in Lebanon. Migrant workers in Lebanon — mostly from Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines — have fallen victim to unpaid wages, forced labor and even physical and sexual abuse.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday announced that Lebanon's chargés d'affaires in Chile and Brazil have fallen victim to robbery attacks, revealing that it has sent letters of protest to demand protection for Lebanon's missions.

The complaints were filed with the foreign ministries of the two countries, the ministry said in a statement.

Hundreds of mourners, including politicians, bid farewell to former Prime Minister Omar Karami in his hometown in the northern city of Tripoli on Friday.

Karami was laid to rest in an official funeral after prayers, which were led by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan at the Mansouri Great mosque in the presence of Tripoli Mufti Sheikh Malek al-Shaar.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan deplored on Friday the killings in the name of religion, stressing that the Lebanese are the only ones capable of salvaging their country.

“The crises in our nation are expanding due to the conflict in the neighboring countries, the delay in electing a new head of state and the deterioration of the political, economic and social conditions,” Daryan said on the occasion of the birth of Prophet Mohammed.

Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan stressed on Friday the importance of organizing the ties between Christians.

Kanaan, who is loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that “any presidential breakthrough would resolve several political disputes.”

The bodyguard of Fadel Shaker, who has allegedly taken refuge in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, has been injured in a bomb attack, al-Manar TV reported.

Hizbullah's TV station said late Thursday that Mahmoud Ward was wounded when a bomb went off in Ain el-Hilweh's Tahtani street.

An Iraqi lawmaker has revealed that authorities in Baghdad were seeking to recover around 2 billion dollars of Iraqi money found in a bunker in rural Lebanon.

The MP, who is a member of the parliamentary integrity committee, told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Friday that the appropriations committee was able to return 1 billion dollars of money frozen in several countries.